


I love a rainy night

by Barsick



Category: Joker (2019), Taxi Driver (1976)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Rain, Slow Dancing, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24394159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barsick/pseuds/Barsick
Summary: This work is a sequel for the "People like us" by brilliant Roving Otter.
Relationships: Travis Bickle/Arthur Fleck
Kudos: 13





	I love a rainy night

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [People Like Us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21567403) by [RovingOtter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RovingOtter/pseuds/RovingOtter). 



Travis awoke in the middle of the night to a sharp, cold pain. It was as if a long, thick needle had been inserted under his ribs, reaching all the way to his innards. The room was draughty in the gray gloom, and the rain was pounding furiously against the dirty panes of the small windows. Travis held his breath and turned his head to see what he already knew. Arthur was not there. Anxiety curled into an icy ball in his chest. "Arthur?" - the voice was strangely low, almost frightened. Travis swung his feet off the bed, his bare feet brushing the tile floor with distaste. "Arthur!" - this time it was more confident and louder. There was still no response. Travis wrapped himself in a thin wool blanket and walked slowly toward the tiny plywood-partitioned kitchen. Fear slowed his movements, he was always subconsciously prepared for the worst.  
Arthur was there, standing by the open window, smoking. There was something tragically determined, even heroic, in his attitude. His shoulders and back were straight, and his eyes were feverish. With one hand he clung to the fragile sash window, the fingers of the other clutching a crumpled cigarette. A gust of wind ruffled his tangled, wet hair. The air seemed to sparkle around Arthur, as if he was about to jump out of the window with a wild laugh. "Arthur!" - Travis called again. A zero response. Travis moved cautiously closer and touched Arthur on the shoulder. Arthur shuddered and began to chatter confusedly, as if trying to justify himself to a strict parent.  
"Travis, I'm so sorry I woke you up. You don't have to worry..." - the image of the mad hero faded, Arthur stooped, shrank, faded. Only the feverish gleam in his eyes remained the same.  
"I can't help but worry, you know. Can you tell me what's going on with you?"  
Arthur smiled painfully guiltily: "Sometimes I still think that I am not worthy of you, that you would be better off without me."  
Travis sighed wearily. "We have discussed this many times. A lot of times. I don't want to be without you. No matter how difficult it is for us. This is my final choice. Come on, you'll catch a cold." Travis closed the window and threw the blanket on Arthur's shoulders.  
Arthur did not budge. Then Travis took his hand and pulled him along. Arthur walked slowly and somehow doomed, like a dog on a leash. Returning to bed, they were silent for a long time, clinging closely to each othe. The rain continued to pound on the windows. In the distance, barely discernible, was the angry roar of the ocean. Travis was beginning to drift off into a doze when Arthur said in a barely audible voice: "I had a nightmare..."  
"Tell me?"  
"Yes" - said Arthur, relapsing into a thoughtful silence. Travis waited patiently.  
"I was there... in the ocean. I sat in a small boat in the middle of a storm, shaking with terror. The waves tossed my boat again and again and again... I tried to wake up, but I couldn't. Then I resigned myself, decided that I would die..."  
"And that's when you woke up?"  
"Then I felt better, I felt calm and indifferent to everything. Then I just opened my eyes and realized that I was finally wake up." Arthur was trembling slightly, though his voice was steady.  
"Are you cold? Should I get a second blanket?" - Travis touched his forehead with concern.  
"I wanted my dream to come true... Go to the ocean so that it will take away my fear."  
"Can I do that for you? Take away your fear... What do you think?" - Travis tried to look into Arthur's eyes.  
"I couldn't think of anything else. This obsession kept me from thinking clearly. I was hypnotized."  
"You're still like this..."  
Travis felt as if he were talking to himself. Arthur can't hear him, but the roar of the wind and the waves in his head drowns everything.  
"I'll make some coffee" - Travis told to the emptyness. He found a pair of dirty socks under the bed, no matter whose. Then his feet were not so cold and unpleasant. Travis groped for the light switch, and a dim light bulb hanging from the ceiling comes on in the kitchen. Travis rubbed his heavy eyelids in exasperation. "I'll turn on the radio" - again it was not clear whether Arthur heard it or not. No sound came from the next room.  
"Ooh wah, ooh wah cool, cool kitty  
Tell us about the boy from New York City " sang the radio in a perky female voice, so unnaturally cheerful, breaking through the disturbing hum of the night storm. It was like a voice from a distant, unattainable time and space, from an other world hidden under a layer of murky, icy water. Or vice versa, they both were buried deep at the bottom in a small flimsy box, and the sun and the warmth were somewhere in the ghostly sky. Travis thought for a moment that he sees light specks of dust floating lazily in the sunlight, but the vision quickly dissipated, replaced by a flicker of yellow electric light and a sluggish circling fly . Coffee sizzled over the edge of the jug and onto the stove. 

Arthur knew that he would never get rid of his problems, they would always be with him, sleeping lightly in his broken head. Travis could patch up his torn soul, but he couldn't fix his crippled brain. Sometimes Arthur wanted to smash his skull against the wall so that all the excess could be shaken out, scraped clean. The other one who shared the same body with him and was called the Joker, it seems, has left him. Even he was sick of that pathetic psychopath Arthur Fleck. In his chest was growing itchy, scratched and pushed out. Arthur pictured one horrible scene after another, imagined how he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed it into his stomach, banged his forehead against the wall in a frenzy until the skin broke and the bones crumbled, and gouged out his eyes with scissors. Arthur only imagined, shuddering and clenching his jaw, but he lay there and did nothing.

Travis poured coffee into the cups, and the song about the new York guy changed to a song about a rainy night. "Well I love a rainy night; I love a rainy night.  
I love to hear the thunder;  
watch the lightning when I lights up the sky.  
You know it makes me feel good". Travis was relieved when a wild, loud laugh came from the next room. Then he knew how to proceed; then he did not feel so helpless and useless. Travis put the cups on the nightstand and lay back down next to Arthur.  
"I'm here, I'm with you, I'll take care of you" - it's like he was reciting a mantra, gently stroking Arthur's head. When the attack subsided Arthur whispered in a strained voice: "You remind me my old psychologist," and a bitter smile stretched his lips.  
"Am I suddenly become black?" - Travis smiled back.  
"You're not listening."  
"You too. I tried calling, but you were somewhere deep..."  
Arthur looked at him carefully, as if studying him, like a cat waiting for its prey.  
"Let's dance. I like this song."  
Travis got out of bed and curtsied awkwardly. "May I invite you?"  
Outside, the light was faintly fading, and a dank gray morning was creeping heavily in from the East . The coffee was steaming and cooling on the nightstand. The two men were embracing each other, swaying in a quiet, sleepy dance, like two small figures in an old music box.  
"Puts a song in this heart of mine;  
puts a smile on my face ev'ry time,  
'cause I love a rainy night.  
Yeah, I love a rainy night.  
Well, I love a rainy night."

**Author's Note:**

> The songs:  
> 1\. Manhattan Transfer "Boy from New York city"  
> 2\. Eddie Rabbit "I love a rainy night"


End file.
